


Before you were mine

by starrystarrytrouble



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Shopping, Drinking, F/M, Flowers, Fluff, Late at Night, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27744148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrystarrytrouble/pseuds/starrystarrytrouble
Summary: The three times Ethan and MC almost met before intern year started.Summer, Christmas and Fall.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	Before you were mine

**Two years before intern year**

The California sun was hot at his neck when Ethan walked into the flower shop.

Within a second he was surrounded by the overwhelming sensation of being swallowed whole.

_By fucking flowers._

The fragrance was so heady it was almost nauseating.

Harper’s birthday was tomorrow and he was giving a paper in San Diego. She was in Philadelphia on a research project of her own. In a way the distance seemed poetic, the way their relationship was going.

He focused on the wooden panelling on the ceiling of the shop to recalibrate.

The shop was entirely too small and too bright. Stacked floor to ceiling with more flowers than he’d seen at the botanical gardens. He read the handwritten signs.

_Pink peonies, orange gerbera, white orchids._

He didn’t know a thing about flowers, didn’t even care to know. Harper liked lilies. She had perfect taste in everything. That was enough for him.

He turned to approach the shop assistant.

In green velvet dungarees with long dark hair streaming down her back, she was twiddling with the red long stemmed roses, looking at them almost wistfully. Something seemed out of place, and an almost supernatural force tore through his usual focus and stepped between them, halting him into a forced hesitation.

He craned an inch closer and spotted the lanyard at her neck.

_David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA_

He stopped to look at her again. She was young, barely old enough to be a doctor, reminiscent of the interns he herded in and out year after year. But something about the serious gaze in her green eyes and the gentle smile tugging at her rosy lips sparked a curiosity in him.

“Excuse me, sir? Do you need any help?”

He turned to a red-headed woman who’d sidled up beside him smiling politely. Her green apron instantly sparked recognition in him. _She_ was the shop assistant.

He felt relief sag his shoulders. That supernatural force had been nothing but self-preservation.

He could’ve handled the awkwardness but he would rather not have to.

The dark haired girl was just another customer.

Nothing else.

He ordered the most expensive bouquet of lilies he could.

The girl was still looking at the roses when he strode out the shop.

**December before intern year**

Ethan hated Christmas shopping.

Now that he wasn’t seeing Harper anymore the only person he really had to buy for was his dad.

A jumper and box of vintage scotch usually ticked that box and was simple enough to leave until a few days after the Christmas rush, when he’d drive up to Providence. No shopping trips were needed.

Or so he thought.

On Christmas Eve his pulmonary edema patient coded. June argued with him about treatment for days and took the opportunity to revel in his failure.

Naveen was understanding but they both knew he was going to think about this for days.

And then his mentor dropped the bomb on him. What was supposed to be a relaxing informal Christmas day dinner at his cabin after they both finished a long shift, was now going to feature a motley crew of interns and associates who had nowhere to go for Christmas.

And it featured secret Santa.

_Whatever the hell that was._

In short, he needed to pick up some sort of gift.

He watched the wispy snow beat down on his sedan window with a sigh.

Traffic was horrendous through Boston.

Parking was outrageous.

By the time he stepped through the revolving doors of the department store, his woollen coat was covered in snow and any hopes of a quick easy trip were utterly frustrated.

He couldn’t understand why anyone did this to themselves.

The shop was full of maniacs.

Bustling, frantic, stressed _maniacs._

He tried not to contemplate the health effects of seasonal stress of this magnitude. But no wonder the free clinic was heaving if this was the agony people went through every December.

He stepped onto the escalator mindlessly.

He had no idea where he was going but there had to be a general ‘gift’ section, right?

“Mom, I promise I’ll get my flight back on time, I just need to pick something up.”

He rolled his eyes. The woman in front of him was on the phone and he was going to be party to her inane seasonal chatter. Just what he needed.

He looked to the side to see if he could escape past her.

Every step was full.

He should’ve taken the stairs.

“No,” the woman giggled, “it was perfect. Not perfect, it’s still a _hospital_. But I’m so sure it’s the one for me.”

He looked up at the younger woman, curious. He’d never heard a hospital described as perfect before.

She was bundled in a light grey coat with the most ridiculous bright stripy bobble hat covering long dark hair.

“I’m telling you, it has to be Edenbrook now. I’m going to work even harder so I definitely get in there. I’m glad I came to see it. I hope Dad’s not mad I missed the football game.”

She giggled into the phone again and he found himself enjoying the sound. It was warm and musical.

“No I didn’t meet _him_. I don’t think he just wanders the corridors, Mom. I don’t even know what he looks like, I’ve only read his book.”

She burst into another fit of laughter and this time, he felt himself involuntarily memorise the sound for later.

“Love you too, Mom. See you tonight, I promise.”

She climbed the curve of the escalator with a bright smile planted on her face. For a brief second she flashed a look back, her charming green eyes catching his for a moment.

And then she was gone. Another figure in the wilderness of the pre-Christmas rush.

He shook himself out of his daze, the fragments of her conversation incoherent and irrelevant.

He checked his watch. It was 3pm.

He looked up at the red and gold decorations dangling from the ceiling. He had a gift to buy.

And he still needed to google whatever this secret Santa thing was.

**The night before intern year**

Eve had no idea what she was doing in the bar.

She’d arrived in Boston a few weeks ago. The city was breath-taking. Vast and beautiful.

The Back Bay in particular was gorgeous. She loved the starlit waterfront, a small reminder of the ocean she’d grown up next to back in California.

Part of the wonder of living in a room the size of a broom cupboard was that there was plenty of incentive to go out and explore.

And really, this was everything she wanted.

Her residency started tomorrow. At Edenbrook. _The_ Edenbrook. The hospital with the most prestigious Diagnostics team in the country. And if she played her cards right, worked hard, really focused, she could be in the midst of it all.

So here she was tonight. In a fancy bar in the Back Bay with lawyers and investment bankers.

Just kicking it back with a glass of the most expensive whisky she’d ever tasted.

With a splash of vanilla Coke. Because she enjoyed the horrified look the bartender gave her when she ordered.

She watched the patrons come and go. Crowds of rowdy men in suits who looked her up and down in a way that made her smile wider in complete and utter sarcasm.

Occasionally she raised her glass to one of them just as they left. She liked the look of total confusion on their faces as they wondered if they should turn back and speak to her.

It was really just a way of passing the time.

The knots in her stomach were tighter than before her finals.

There was only so many times she could call her mom.

From tomorrow, she was a real live doctor. The kind that could save lives.

Or end them.

There was going to be no room for mistakes.

Attendings weren’t exactly renowned for their kindness to interns. 

She ran a hand through her long brown waves.

This was going to absolute hell wasn’t it?

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

She couldn’t wait.

She swallowed the last of the scotch, most of it water from the ice cubes. Some patronising asshole at a club had once told her that ice changed the flavour and she made sure she ordered every drink on ice ever since.

She needed to take herself home. The quicker she got to bed, the earlier she could get up and get ready.

Turning to the door, still lost in a flurry of excitement and apprehension, she knocked straight into a solid figure.

“Shit, sorry.”

Blue blazing eyes glared down at her.

It was hard to ignore the handsomeness of the stranger, the sharpness of his jawline, the way the pristine white shirt hung from his broad shoulders.

She held his gaze and watched him flick from anger to a softness she couldn’t place. It was almost like he recognised her.

Which was impossible. It had to be. She knew no-one in Boston. Not a soul.

Quickly, the curiosity lifted and his voice was stern.

“You should take more care.”

“Yeah, sure, sorry.”

She walked straight past him, but she was sure he was still watching her as she left the bar.

Why were all hot guys always assholes?

The cold night hit her, fresh and rich as she stepped onto the Boston pavement.

She sighed, the air leaving her taking all her worries with it.

A wide smile lit her face as she hailed a cab.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


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